April 2013 marks the second installment of the Ratchet Series Composer Residency featuring the incredibly capable bassist and composer, DEVIN HOFF. Each of the 5 Monday night ratchet series programs will present new music from Devin's with 5 diverse and forward-thinking projects featuring outstanding Chicago musicians in the Improvisational, Jazz and Experimental cultures.here's the listing of devin's output for the month of april:4/1-SACRED SISTRUMSUntangling (and re-tangling) the roots of american folk music through composition and improvisation.

ABOUT DEVIN:Devin Hoff
was born and raised in Fort Collins, Colorado. He began playing music
seriously at age 15, and has continued to do so ever since, foregoing
college as he was already working at his chosen profession. Torn between
the visceral energies of punk and metal and the spiritual freedom of
free jazz in his youth, he has spent the last 20-plus years exploring
the resonance and dissonance of these musical tendencies. He has played
and recorded with many musicians and bands over the years, including Ken
Vandermark, Nels Cline, Vijay Iyer, Carla Kihlstedt, Mary Halvorson,
Ben Goldberg, Joshua Redman, Kira Roessler, Mike Watt, and Good For
Cows, his long-standing duo with drummer Ches Smith. In 2008 he released
an album of double bass compositions and improvisations creatively
titled Solo Bass.
He has written and recorded music for several
films and stage performances, including the award winning
Wholphin-produced short film Look at the Sun and the Anna Deveare-Smith
play Let Me Down Easy (in collaboration with Joshua Redman).
He has also written articles on bass playing and music in general for several respected publications.

Yes. The rumors are true. At the end of this month, The Ratchet Series at the Skylark will be coming to a close forever. A couple noise complaints from the upstairs neighbor has lead to Bob pulling the plug.

For 6 1/2 years Anton Hatwich, Nick Mazzarella and myself been presenting music there with the best of our ability. We are super disappointed that the series is coming to such an abrupt end.

Please join us in celebrating live music in Chicago by coming out to our final performances!